Prosecutors Attack Zimmerman Story Several Ways

Prosecutors asked the judge to allow them to introduce school records showing Zimmerman took a class that addressed Florida’s self-defense law. They say it will show he had knowledge of the law, even though he claimed he didn’t in an interview with talk show host Sean Hannity. The interview was played for jurors.

O’Mara objected, saying the records were irrelevant. He referred to the prosecution’s efforts to introduce them as “a witch hunt.”

The judge said she would rule later in the week.

Late in the morning the prosecution questioned Mark Osterman, a friend who spoke with Zimmerman after the shooting.

Under questioning by de la Rionda, Osterman said that Zimmerman told him Martin had grabbed his gun during their struggle, but that Zimmerman was able to pull it away.

That account is different from what Zimmerman told investigators in multiple interviews. In those interviews, he only said it appeared Martin was reaching for his gun prior to the shooting. He never told police the teen grabbed it.

“I thought he had said he grabbed the gun,” Osterman said. “I believe he said he grabbed the gun.”

A Sanford Police Department fingerprint examiner testified that none of Martin’s prints were found on the gun.

Prosecutors also called a medical examiner who had reviewed evidence for them to the witness stand. Dr. Valerie Rao testified that Zimmerman’s injuries were insignificant, bolstering the prosecution’s claims that Zimmerman’s life wasn’t in jeopardy during his fight with Martin. Rao was not the medical examiner who autopsied Martin.

“They were so minor that the individual who treated and examined Mr. Zimmerman decided stitches weren’t required,” Rao said.